Families
by The Young Writer's Apprentice
Summary: Shiharu gets quite a shock when somebody unexpected turns up on the doorstep unexpectedly. In the events that follow she learns what it means to have a family.
1. Chapter 1

Shiharu softly closed the door to the twins' room. It had been quite a long day because Aoi had caught a cold that week, and Akane didn't want to leave her brother's side until he was feeling better. The fever had gone down soon enough, but the boy had left both Shiharu and Matsunaga-san worried. Shiharu walked to the kitchen to make some tea for herself. She hoped that Akane wouldn't catch Aoi's cold, because two sick toddlers would cause a lot more trouble for her and Matsunaga-san.

Shiharu grabbed her cup from the cupboard and looked at it happily. She had been so disappointed and embarrassed when she had broken the first one, but Matsunaga-san had just bought her a new one, telling her she belonged here. She knew this wasn't a normal thing to do for the girl who babysat your kids, but it made her feel happy nonetheless. Or perhaps, if she were honest, that was exactly what made her feel happy, because apparently Matsunaga-san thought of her as more than just the babysitter.

Warming her cup, she started to brew the tea, it had become a daily ritual, after she'd put the twins to bed, she would brew tea for herself and wait for Matsunaga-san to come home. A quick glance at the clock told her Matsunaga-san could be coming home any minute now, so she started to prepare a cup for him as well. Maybe they would get to spend some time together before she had to go back to the orphanage, that would be very nice.

The teen had just poured the tea into the cups when the doorbell rang. Surprised she walked to the front door, as far as she knew, Matsunaga hadn't mentioned anything about expecting guests.

"Did you forget your keys Matsunaga-san?" She asked after she opened the door, without looking who was standing in front of her.

"Ah, so this is the Matsunaga household then? I'm glad I found it." A woman's voice replied. Shiharu's cheeks reddened and she quickly apologized to the lady in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize Matsunaga-san expected a visitor." She rambled.

"Oh no, that's alright, I wasn't looking for Matsunaga-san himself, are you Nakamura Shiharu, by any chance?" Shiharu looked up sharply.

"Yes I am." She replied

The woman had dark, straight hair and eyes that glittered with intelligence. She was wearing a suit and her tie was half undone. She had a bit of an American accent, but it wasn't distracting. Shiharu didn't recognize her, and couldn't think of any reason why a woman in a suit would want to talk to her.

"It's not really my place, but I guess I can invite you in." Shiharu offered after a few seconds of silence, feeling a bit insecure. She had her phone in the pocket of her skirt, and Matsunaga-san on speed dial.

"Thank you Shiharu."

Closing the door behind them, Shiharu led the lady to the kitchen where the tea mugs still stood on the countertop. Hesitatingly she offered the lady Matsunaga-san's cup of tea and sat down at the table with her own. The lady quickly followed her example.

"So, what can I help you with?" Shiharu asked after a few moments of more silence.

"Oh how rude of me. My name is Midori Johnson. Or eh, Johnson Midori I should say. I've been looking for you for quite a while now Shiharu," the lady said. Shiharu felt a bit uneasy with the familiarity of the way Midori spoke to her, but didn't interrupt.

"I was born and raised in Japan, together with my older brother, but I moved to the United States of America when I was eighteen years old. I'd gotten a scholarship you see. I started working as a temp in a little company when I was in college, but I climbed up and became the CEO soon thereafter.

Shiharu wanted to interrupt, and ask "What does that have to do with me?" but she didn't, and let Midori continue her tale.

"After a couple of years, I got a letter saying my brother had died, and I came back to Japan for his funeral. I met his wife, who was pregnant, although she didn't know it at the time. We got along fine, but she wouldn't accept my help, so I went back to America when all the arrangements were made."

Shiharu's heart was pounding in her throat. This was going into a direction she wasn't expecting, had never expected.

"About six years passed, and I heard that my brother's wife had passed away too, leaving a five year old girl behind. I used to think that the woman's direct family had taken in the girl, but a few months ago, I found out she's lived in an orphanage ever since."

She had trouble keeping her breathing normal. Surely that couldn't be true? That all this time there had been somebody out there for her? After all the loneliness, the jealousy she felt for children with 'normal' families.

"Shiharu, I want to offer you my deepest apologies for not coming to find you earlier. You should've grown up with a family, even if that family would have existed out of you and your aunt and uncle. You must have been alone for so long, and I can never express my sorrow about that enough," Midori said softly, reaching out for the teens hands. Shiharu pulled them away and jumped up, her chair falling backwards with a loud thud.

The world had closed in on her, and it seemed like there was nothing except for her in the whole wide universe. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she did the only thing she could think of. She turned on her heels, and ran out of the house, away from the woman who'd just revealed she was her aunt.

**A/N: dun dun dunnn. Hello everybody, there aren't nearly enough Love So Life fanfictions, so I decided to make my own contribution. This could be a two shot or a multi-chapter story, I haven't decided yet, but as always I'd like to hear your opinions! Please give me a review or a PM to tell me what you think of it, I can always use constructional criticism. **

**Love,**

**The Young Writer's Apprentice**


	2. Chapter 2

Seiji knew something was wrong the moment he stepped out of the cab. The front door was open, while he and Shiharu normally took extra care closing it, because the twins had wandered on to the pavement in front of his yard one day when it wasn't closed properly, and it had given them quite a scare. After quickly paying the driver Seiji walked up to the house, and he was faced with a woman pacing in the dimly lit hallway.

"Who are you?" he asked sharply. The woman, who'd just been running her hands through her dark hair startled slightly and turned to him. She was dressed smartly, as if she was some sort of business woman. Somehow she managed to look worried, angry and scared, all at the same time.

"Johnson Midori," she replied absently, before adding: "Shiharu ran away." Seiji forgot all about the hardly satisfying answer about Midori's identity.

"She ran away? But that's nothing like her, what happened?"

"I'm Shiharu's aunt, I was explaining that too her, but she didn't take the news very well," Midori confessed. Seiji took another look at the woman. He could see some similarities, but he still felt suspicious, it wasn't anything hard to fake after all, just straight hair and a comparable eye colour. Walking to the twins' bedroom he grabbed his phone out of the pocket of his jacket, and dialled the number of the orphanage.

After confirming that the twins were fine, still sleeping soundly in fact. Seiji walked back into the hallway, were Shiharu's coat was still hanging on the coat stand. Finally Haruko picked up.

"Hello?"

"I need to know if Nakamura-san has arrived at the orphanage yet," Seiji told her without bothering with social necessities. On the other side of the phone he could hear Haruko talk to somebody and he waited impatiently for her to finish.

"The kids say they haven't seen her yet. Did something happen Matsunaga-san?"

"Some lady turned up on my door step when I was gone, claiming to be Nakamura-san's aunt. She didn't react well."

"So Midori went to see her immediately. But did Shiharu leave the kids alone?" Haruko asked undignified.

"Couldn't you have told Johnson-san to wait until I got home?" Seiji lashed out suddenly. He didn't like the thought of Shiharu having to face life changing conversations like that on her own. He knew how vulnerable she could be from time to time.

"I understand you are upset Shiharu left your children alone, but please calm down Matsunaga-san."

"I'm going to find her." He told the woman before hanging up. He could apologize for his rude behaviour later, finding Shiharu was more important now.

Seiji called Takeru right after he hung up on Haruko , explaining the situation and asking him to come over to watch the twins. Takeru immediately agreed and told him he'd be there in a few seconds.

Walking into the kitchen, Seiji put the chair that was still on the ground back up and started to prepare tea for himself. The cup he normally used was on the table, half filled with cold tea. Midori walked into the kitchen, obviously insecure about what to do now.

Suddenly Seiji could see the similarities between the woman and Shiharu he hadn't noticed before. They both had the same cautious attitude, as if unsure whether it was okay to be there.

Taking pity on her, Seiji turned to face her.

"Listen, I'm going to do my best to find Nakamura-san, but right now there is nothing you can do. If you give me your contact information, I'll be in touch when Nakamura-san turns up, alright?"

Midori's timid demeanour disappeared, and suddenly she looked everything like the business woman he'd expected her to be when he first saw her. After fishing something out of the purse she was carrying, Midori handed Seiji a business card with the contact information of 'Johnson Broadcasting Company'. On the backside the address of a hotel was written in a neat handwriting.

"I planned on giving this to Shiharu so she could contact me. Please find my niece." She said, "Oh, and I'm terribly sorry for intruding." After that she turned around and left.

Seiji grabbed his jacket and was preparing to leave when Takeru and his mother arrived.

"Ah, Miyagawa-san, Takeru," he greeted them a little surprised at the presence of Takeru's mother.

"Mom agreed to watch the twins, I'm going to help you look for Shiharu." Takeru explained, giving his friend a grin.

Seiji immediately bowed to Miyagawa. "Thank you very much."

"Oh no reason for that Seiji, just find Shiharu-chan alright?" The woman waived away his gratitude. Seiji send her a grateful smile before getting ready to go out. He grabbed Shiharu's coat when he passed the coat stand, because it was rather cold outside, and he didn't want her to get sick.

"Are we going to take the car?" Takeru asked, already walking towards it.

"No," Seiji replied, " I don't think she's gone far, and besides, it would look strange if two men picked up a lone girl from the sidewalk with their car."

"You're probably right," Takeru said, sounding a bit dispirited.

They walked a few streets without finding a trace of Shiharu. Seiji felt the worry growing every passing minute but tried not to let it show too much. If he looked at Takeru's knowing smirk, he'd have to say it wasn't exactly working.

"Geez Seiji, how can you be so collected on TV? Everything you think is showing on your face."

Seiji tried to shrug it off nonchalantly, and they continued walking.

"Maybe we should split up? We still haven't found her." Seiji said after a few minutes of silence, apparently Shiharu had gone further away than he had expected.

"That might be be-" Takeru was cut off by his phone ringing loudly. Seiji stared at him in annoyance as Takeru tried to fish his phone out of his pocket.

"Hello, Kiyo-chan? I'm sorry, I don't have time to chat right now." somebody on the other side of the line was talking rapidly, but Seiji couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Ah, thank goodness." Takeru sighed.

"Yes, I can put you on speaker if you want too."A slight pause

"No? Alright, we're coming right now." Takeru replied.

"Yeah, Thank you. Bye Kiyo-chan." He hung up and shot Seiji a bright smile.

"I know where Shiharu is."

_**A/N: And do you know too? It's probably not that hard, but I liked the idea. I'll try to update in two weeks, but I've got exams first next week, so wish me luck! Thanks to everybody who reviewed, (it's greatly appreciated) I know Shiharu's behaviour is a bit off, but the story wouldn't work otherwise. Anyway, read and review!**_

_**Love, **_

_**The Young Writer's Apprentice. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Shiharu had ran for a few streets before she was out of breath because of her sobbing. It was so hard to comprehend, all those times she felt alone and different because she didn't have a family could have been prevented. If Johnson Midori had found out about her existence a few years earlier, her whole life could have been different.

Out of breath and sobbing she stood on the sidewalk. It was cold but Shiharu didn't want to return to Matsunaga's house, because that would mean facing Midori and that was the last thing she wanted right now.

"Onee-chan? Are you alright?" someone behind her suddenly asked. Shiharu turned around swiftly, realising she was standing outside Kyo's garden. She sniffled a little and tried to wipe away the tears, but she couldn't really stop sobbing yet.

"Oh sweetheart, come on inside, it's freezing, you'll catch a cold," Kyo rambled, ushering the shivering teen inside.

Kyo led Shiharu to her small kitchen, and put her down on a kitchen chair at a big cherry wooden table. The old lady rubbed Shiharu's shoulders in a comforting gesture before bustling around the kitchen, putting a box of tissues in front of Shiharu and returning to the counter to prepare some hot chocolate. Shiharu understood Kyo did this to give her some time to compose herself, and she accepted the gesture gratefully. When Kyo turned back to the table with two steaming mugs of coco, Shiharu had wiped away most of the tears and somehow managed to calm her breathing.

"So, can you tell me what happened?" Kyo asked after sitting down on the chair opposite Shiharu. After a few seconds Shiharu started her story, while Kyo listened intently. After hesitating slightly, the teen voiced the thoughts that had plagued her most after her conversation with Midori, and Kyo listened to her without interrupting.

"I could have grown up with a loving family." Shiharu whispered, concluding her story, her voice still shaking slightly. She looked down at her mug and occasionally took a sip. Kyo thought about that for a while, before replying:

"That may be true Shiharu, but is that really what you would have wanted?"

The teen looked up from her mug in surprise. "What do you mean? I've always wanted a family," she answered.

"If you had grown up in Midori's family, you would have never met the twins right?"

"I-I hadn't thought about that," Shiharu confessed, feeling ashamed of her victimised way of thinking.

"Oh don't be like that dear, I just want you to look at the situation from another side. There may have been situations that made you feel scared and lonely because you are an orphan, but you have a lot of siblings in the sunflower house right? And you got to meet the twins and Sei-tan, the _man_ you like." Kyo explained.

"You are right," Shiharu whispered, deliberately ignoring Kyo's remark about Matsunaga-san.

Suddenly something shot through her mind.

"Oh no! I left the twins alone," she squeaked out horrified. Worry and fear clouded her thoughts and new tears spilled over her cheeks.

"I need to get back," she frantically muttered to herself, knocking the half empty mug of hot chocolate over in her haste to get up. Kyo stood up and gently took hold of the girl's wrist.

"Easy there, how late was Matsunaga-san supposed to get home?" she asked, gently pulling on Shiharu's wrist to get the girl to face her.

"S-seven o'clock," Shiharu said.

"It's half past seven now, and you've been here for a bout twenty-five minutes," Kiyo started, gesturing at the large standing clock in the corner. "I live about ten minutes away from Takeru, so you probably left Matsunaga-san's house around five minutes to seven. The twins can't have been alone for more than a couple of minutes." Kiyo reasoned.

The old woman picked up a dishcloth from the counter and started cleaning up the spilled chocolate.

"We can't change our past, so it's best not to dwell on it too much." She told the teen.

Shiharu just nodded in response, wiping away the few stray tears on her cheeks.

"Do you have your mobile phone with you? We should call Matsunaga-san." Kyo said. Shiharu padded her pockets before shaking her head.

"It's still in Matsunaga-san's house."

"Oh well, I'll call Takeru-kun instead, he can give me Matsunaga-san's number. You should clean yourself up a bit, the washing room is the second door on the left." Kyo said, gently urging Shiharu towards the hall. Shiharu nodded and disappeared into the washing room.

After wringing out the dishcloth, Kyo walked into her living room and picked up her house telephone.

She dialled Takeru's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Takeru-kun?" She started, but Takeru interrupted her quickly.

"Hello, Kyo-chan? I'm sorry, I don't have time to chat right now."

"That's okay, I just wanted to say Shiharu is with me." Kyo said.

"Ah, Thank goodness." Takeru sighed.

"I'd like to have Matsunaga-san's phone number, could you give it to me?" Kyo asked, glancing around to find a pen and some paper.

"Yes, or I can put you on speaker." Takeru replied the same moment as Kyo had found writing material.

"Oh, he's there with you? Well, the two of you should come over here then, no need to put me on speaker." Kyo said, dropping the pencil.

"No? Alright then, we're coming right now." Takeru said.

"Hurry up then, Shiharu's had a lot of stress today."

"Yeah, thank you. Bye Kyo-chan."

Kyo had just put the phone down when Shiharu walked out of the washing room. Her eyes were still a little bit puffy, and her bangs were a bit damp, but she looked a lot better, a bit more calmed down.

The two of them sat on the couch together for a while, just talking about trivial things like school and Shiharu's part time job.

By the time the doorbell rang, Shiharu had calmed down completely, although the thought of facing Matsunaga after running out on the twins obviously scared her.

"I'll let them in, and then Takeru and I will give the two of you some privacy alright?" Kyo asked as she got up. Shiharu nodded, looking at her hands, which she had clenched stiffly in her lap.

Kyo gently patted Shiharu's shoulder before walking to the door.

**A/N: Well, I was supposed to be studying, but I really couldn't leave this story alone, you know? I like the way it's going, but I'm always curious about your thoughts too, so please leave a review, or send me a PM, if you leave a message when logged in, I'll reply! **


	4. Chapter 4

Shiharu was kneeling on the floor when Matsunaga-san entered Kyo's cosy living room, ready to apologize formally.

"I'm very sorry Matsunaga-san, I acted rea-," She began, but her voice broke and Matsunaga-san spoke before she could start again.

"Nakamura-san, it was really irresponsible of you to leave Aoi-kun and Akane-chan alone with a stranger. They could've been in danger," He said sternly, standing a few feet away from her. He was obviously keeping his distance. Shiharu swallowed around the lump that was forming in her throat and nodded, still not looking up from the polished floorboards.

"It really worried me when you weren't there when I got home." He continued. Shiharu nodded again stiffly, afraid of what might follow next.

Matsunaga sighed softly and knelt down in front of Shiharu.

"I'm so sorry you had to face that alone Shiharu-chan." He whispered. Shiharu's head snapped up at the informal way he had used to address her, but before she could comment she was pulled into a comforting hug.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Matsunaga whispered into her hair, gently stroking her brown locks.

"Are Aoi and Akane alright?" Shiharu asked, her face pressed to Matsunaga's chest. She felt a chuckle vibrate in his body at her question. It made her blood rush up to her cheeks, the feeling of being this close was nice...

"It's just like you to be worried about them now off all times," He laughed. "But they are fine yes. They were sound asleep when I got home, and Miyagawa-san is looking after them for now."

Shiharu leaned back a bit, breaking the hug reluctantly.

"We probably should get back then, right?" She asked, although she'd really like to stay like that just a little bit longer. Shiharu felt a little disappointed when Matsunaga got up, but ignored the feeling when he reached out to help her up. Shiharu took his hand and let herself be pulled up, trying to fight down the blush on her face. Matsunaga was just worried because of what happened right?

"Eh, how long have you been standing there Takeru?" Matsunaga asked suddenly. Shiharu turned around to look at the door, where Takeru was leaning against the frame, a playful smirk on his face.

"Ne, Sei-chan, are you done violating Shiharu-chan?" he asked.

"H-hey! I wasn't!" Matsunaga shouted. Shiharu tried to muffle her laughing with her hand, but couldn't stop the sound from bubbling up when she saw the two friends 'fight'. The two turned around to face her, while she laughed happily.

Matsunaga's hard expression softened when he looked at her.

"Let's go home," he said.

After thanking Kyo for her good care again, Matsunaga, Shiharu and Takeru walked back to the Matsunaga house. Shiharu snuggled up in her coat, and was chatting with Takeru cheerfully. Matsunaga was walking a few feet in front of them, silently listening to their chatter. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and send a message to Miyagawa-san to let her know that they were coming home.

"Nakamura-san, I'll drive you to the Sunflower house in a bit, alright?" Matsunaga asked when they arrived at his house. Shiharu said nothing, but just nodded in response. Talking to Matsunaga felt too awkward after what had happened at Kyo's house. It probably didn't mean much, but he had used her given name instead of her family name to address her. Although he was only trying to comfort her right? He probably didn't notice himself anyway, because he was using her family name again, she thought.

Shiharu stayed behind in the hallway while Matsunaga and Takeru went to say hello to Miyagawa-san. She felt embarrassed because of the amount of trouble she'd caused for everybody, and immediately apologized when the three walked back into the hallway.

"I'm very sorry for causing so much trouble." She said while bowing deeply.

"Oh my, so well mannered," Miyagawa smiled. "It wasn't a problem at all, Shiharu-chan, I'd gladly help again should it be necessary."

"I'm going to drive Shiharu back to the orphanage, but the twins can stay alone for that short time." Matsunaga suddenly announced. Miyagawa-san nodded and put on her shoes and coat, waiting for her son to do the same thing.

After waving off Takeru and Miyagawa-san, Matsunaga grabbed his car keys and opened the door for Shiharu. Looking down, she walked passed him to the passenger's seat of the car. The air around them was awkward, and it felt like you could cut through the tension with a knife. Matsunaga let out a suffering sigh. He glanced at the girl beside him a few times, but he still wasn't able to catch her gaze at all.

Matsunaga ignored the urge to stop the car and talk to her extensively.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her instead. Shiharu snapped out of her trance like state, her cheeks flushing red.

"No-nothing," she stuttered. Matsunaga could tell it wasn't true, but decided not to push her. The evening had been upsetting enough for her without him nagging.

"It's just that... You called me by my given name earlier," Shiharu said softly a few moments later. This time it was his' turn to flush, how could he have been that stupid? He obviously crossed a lot of boundaries tonight.

"Please forgive me, I never meant to be disrespectful towards you," he apologized. Shiharu bit her lip and nodded.

"It's okay, I... You can keep calling me Shiharu if you want to," she muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear it. Her cheeks seemed to turn even redder and she looked away to avoid his eyes again.

Matsunaga squeezed the steering wheel tightly, trying not to let the happiness show on his face.

"If that's the case, you should start calling me Seiji, Shiharu," he said.

A bright smile appeared on the teen's face, and Seiji couldn't stop the curving of his own lips. The rest of the ride was spent in silence again, but this time neither of them felt uncomfortable.

**A/N: Finished! I'm quite content with this chapter, what do you think? Leave a comment or pm me. I know I promised I'd upload right after my exams, but because I posted another chapter during them, it took me a little bit longer to put this one up, sorry for that. Anyway, this story won't be very long, there are probably two, maybe three chapters left, but if you have Ideas to draw it out a bit longer, please let me know! **

**Love, **

**The Young Writer's Apprentice**


	5. Chapter 5

The door of the Sunflower house opened almost immediately after Seiji rang the doorbell.

"Oh thank god, you found Shiharu! We were worried sick," Haruko exclaimed when she saw them, ushering the two inside quickly and closing the door behind them again.

"You should get some sleep Shiharu, I'll talk with you in the morning." Haruko said after making sure the girl was all right. Shiharu nodded, knowing when she was being dismissed.

"Goodbye, Seiji-san," she called over her shoulder before disappearing down the corridor to the sleeping rooms.

Hearing Shiharu say his name like that made Seiji happier than he'd like to admit, it was a small change in the way they acted around each other, but he knew they both realized how important that little change actually was. They had finally crossed the border between the employer/employee relationship and friendship, at the very least. Seiji tried to clear his mind as he turned back to Haruko, who was looking at him thoughtfully. "Is everything alright with the twins?" She asked, although it didn't seem like that was the question that was really burning on her lips.

" Yes they are fine, it turned out that they hadn't been alone with Johnson-san for more than five minutes when I returned home." Seiji replied politely. " But I'd like to continue our talk in your office if that's possible," he added, looking over Haruko's shoulder pointedly. Haruko turned slightly to see Nao standing in the hallway behind her, trying to look inconspicuous too much to be just passing by.

Turning back to Seiji she replied; " That would be fine, please follow me."

Haruko sat down in her chair behind the big oaken desk. Seiji had taken a seat in front of it a few seconds earlier and looked around the office, where they had taken refugee from the curious ears of the orphaned kids. Its interior was clean and simple, with a few file drawers in the corner, and group photo's of children on the off-white wall on the right. There was a large window behind the desk, but because it was dark already Seiji couldn't see the view.

"I'm terribly sorry for my rude behaviour earlier this evening," he started after a few moments of silence, but Haruko held up her hand to stop him mid sentence. She let out a deep sigh and took of her glasses to rub her eyes.

"There is no reason to apologize Matsunaga-san, I completely understand you lashed out because of the stress off the situation. Therefore, I want to apologize for Shiharu's unprofessional behaviour on her behalf." She stated tiredly. "Although her actions tonight may have suggested otherwise, this job is really important to Shiharu, she really cares about the twins a lot, so please don't fire her."

"I wasn't planning on it," Seiji said simply. Haruko looked up in surprise.

"You weren't? Even though she acted so irresponsibly?" She questioned. Seiji shook his head. Wasn't the woman pleading for her charge just seconds ago?

"No I wasn't. She may have acted very irresponsible, but we've talked about it already, and because she has never done something like this before, I'm willing to forget the incident."

The surprise on Haruko's face was almost comical.

"Well then," she said, clearly relieved. "Everything is alright now, isn't it?"

"Almost," Seiji answered. " Next time somebody has to deliver Shiharu life changing news, can you make sure that they wait with it until I'm home?"

Haruko looked at him pointedly, and Seiji suddenly realized just what he was implying.

"Or at least until she isn't alone anymore," he weakly tried to backtrack.

"That would probably be for the best," Haruko said tersely, putting her glasses back on and staring at him intently. Her gaze made Seiji feel like when he was called to the headmaster's office as a schoolboy because he and his friends had gotten caught red handed pulling a prank on their teacher.

Seiji decided to retreat after a few awkward silent moments. Saying goodbye and reassuring the older woman that he'd find his way out himself he left the office. The soft click of the door closing brought a sense of relief, and Seiji allowed himself a small smile. The evening had been messy and stressful, but he had the feeling it might have brought quite some good things.

The announcer was almost at the door when somebody grabbed his wrist. Although the person was being rather rough, Seiji half expected it to be Shiharu when he turned around. Instead of Shiharu, he was faced with a teenaged boy he had met a few times before.

"Ah, Nao-kun was it? What's wrong?" He asked, deliberately ignoring the scowl on Nao's face.

"I don't know what you've done to Shiharu, but you'd better back off." Nao nearly growled.

"Did Shiharu say I did something to her?" Seiji asked in surprise, wondering if he had maybe crossed a border unconsciously.

"She never says what's on her mind, but fact is that she came back from your house subdued and brooding," Nao said accusingly.

" Than who said it has anything to do with me? Maybe you should ask Shiharu herself, She'll tell you if she wants to." Seiji replied, shaking of the boy's hand.

"Goodbye," he added, walking to the door and leaving without a second glance at the teen.

When Seiji finally lay down next to the twins a little while later, he couldn't help but look at them for a bit. The two toddlers, who had caused him so much stress when he first started to take care of them, had brought so many good things into his life. And even tough he would never admit it out loud, Seiji secretly hoped his older brother wouldn't be coming back for his children for a little bit longer.

**A/N: Well, it's been a while… Boring you with excuses won't change anything, but I'd like to say that the time between updates will always be irregular with me, my apologies. I did get a new laptop over winter break though, and while I'm really happy with it, I'm still figuring out how everything works, because it isn't a windows anymore, so sorry for the strange format too. Oh, and of course I do not own Love So Life, but you probably already knew that…**


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